조선시대 무과 재급제 현황과 재급제자 조사 - 무과방목의 전산화 자료를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Gwageo played such an important role in Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) that Joseon can be called the kingdom of gwageo. For example, the number of government examinations held in Joseon was four time more in the same period than that in China. 804 government examinations were held in Joseon dynasty from 1393 to 1894 (502 years), compared to 201 examinations in China from 1371 to 1905 (535 years). Even during wars, gwageo was carried out without interruption in Joseon. There were some who passed the gwageo twice, despite the fact that it is difficult to pass the gwageo even once. This paper investigates these two-time passers of mungwa (civil service examination) and mugwa (military service examination). Invalidation of successful passing of gwageo sometimes occurred for various reasons: Rescindment of the notification of gwageo successful passers could arise as an aftereffect of the cancellation altogether of gwageo due to political reasons or due to a problem with the examination itself, and passing of is revoked through exclusion from the list of successful gwageo passers due to cheating during examinations or due to personal reasons. Aspirants, however, could take the gwageo at any time as long as they do not break the ban on the maximum number permitted to take the government examination during a given time period. As a result, it has been confirmed that there are 53 mungwa and 52 mugwa two-time passers throughout Joseon dynasty. Furthermore, there may be a number of reasons as to why some gwageo candidates successfully passed the examination twice. Successfully passing the gwageo is a criterion for advancing into officialdom and the easiest way to attain higher social status. In other words, it provided a direct link to the ladder of success. Gwageo played the role of a kind of "social safety pin" by confining the many Joseon yangban scholar-officials within the state institutions in that it did not provide its candidates with the leisure to become interested in anything else.